Japanese officials said they had not finalised when or where in New York the U.S. President-elect, Donald Trump’s first meeting with Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, would take place.
Japanese officials said on Thursday in Tokyo that there are series of uncertainty over the talks; who would be invited, or in some cases whom to call or talk to for directions.
They said it showed the difficulties in turning Trump from a freewheeling businessman into a sitting president with a watertight schedule and a fully functioning administration by his inauguration on January 20.
Japanese and U.S. officials said the State Department had not been involved in planning the meeting, leaving the logistics and protocol details that normally would be settled far in advance still to be determined.
One Japanese official said there has been a lot of confusion.
“Trump, a brash outsider with no diplomatic or government experience, and Abe, a veteran lawmaker, have differences on policy issues such as free trade.
Advisers to Trump said Trump is expected to use the Abe meeting to reassure Japan and other Asian allies rattled by his campaign rhetoric.
Reports indicated that several Trump aides did not immediately answer requests about the Abe visit or contact between the transition team and the State Department.
Transition team officials said Trump has denounced reports of disorganisation in the team, singling out the New York Times for saying world leaders have had trouble getting in touch with him since victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton in the November 8 Presidential election.
The transition team said Trump and Pence had spoken to 29 foreign leaders.
The team said Trump has mostly stuck to normal practice for a U.S. President-elect with the order in which he has spoken to foreign leaders on the phone since his election victory.
They noted that some of his contacts have stretched the limits of the usual procedure.
Reports noted that Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, appeared to have been the first leader to speak to Trump after the election, ahead of closer allies like the leaders of Britain and Germany.
It said Sisi’s office called Trump last Wednesday and the incoming U.S. President told him it was “the first international call he had received to congratulate him on winning the election.”
Australian media reported that Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, was the second leader Trump spoke to, after the Australian ambassador to the U.S. got Trump’s personal phone number from Australian golfer and Trump’s friend, Greg Norman.
Trump also talked on the phone to the leaders of Britain, Germany, Turkey and other allies.
It, however, said the phone call on Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which the two men agreed to aim for “constructive cooperation,” raised eyebrows among Democrats and traditionalist Republicans worried about a resurgent Moscow.
It said further that Trump also met Britain’s anti-EU Brexit campaigner, Nigel Farage at Trump Tower last weekend, ahead of any meeting with British Prime Minister, Theresa May.
Meanwhile, John Kirby, State Department spokesman, said that to his knowledge, Trump’s transition team had not been in contact with the department either to discuss the transition of government or to seek information ahead of his meetings with foreign leaders.
“There’s been no outreach to date” from Trump’s transition aides.
“But it’s not for us to approve or disapprove of conversations that the president-elect is having or may have in the future with foreign leaders,’’ he said. (Reuters/NAN)